Residents can see them every night patrolling the residence halls in royal blue windbreakers, and many know them as the makers of condom roses, the keepers of the vacuum and the enforcers of quiet hours.
But long before they decorated people’s doors with cartoon characters, they were applications in a stack of 350 others also vying for the position of resident assistant.
This three-month process began in early December when the application was posted on the Office of Residential Life Web site and will conclude on Feb. 29, when the final decisions are made and job offers are extended via e-mail to the accepted applicants.
The first phase of the application is due this Monday and consists of biographical information, essay questions and academic transcripts.
Valerie Powers, a second-year biology student, turned in her application Wednesday and said she did not find the written application too difficult.
“They were just four straightforward essay questions. I was able to answer from the heart,” she said.
While Powers wasn’t nervous about the application she turned in, she said rumors about the ratio of applicants to available jobs have her a little worried.
Of the 350 applications that were received last year, only 90 new applicants were hired. The remaining 81 resident assistant positions went to returning staff members from the previous year.
“There is a finite number of people that we can physically interview. Generally what that means is about a third of the applicant pool gets cut after the application review,” said Susan Swarts, assistant director of the Office of Residential Life.
Tony Lam, a second-year history student planning to apply, hopes to be selected for several reasons.
“I feel like becoming an RA will make my social network a lot bigger. And at the same time it provides the incentive of room and board,” said .
Resident assistants are not required to pay the cost of room and board, which amounts to $12,420 per year, according to the Financial Aid Office 2007-2008 student budget. They are also assigned to single rooms in their residence halls and a meal plan that includes 14 meals per week.
While this compensation is attractive to students like Lam, it accompanies a sometimes 24-hours-a-day work schedule.
Resident assistants are expected to spend about three evenings per week on duty making rounds in their building. They are also responsible for planning a minimum of seven programs per quarter for their residents and must take a special training class in the education department during spring quarter.
Lam, however, is more concerned with making it through the application process.
“The interview part is the most intimidating for me,” Lam said. “I actually have never done job interviews before either, so that’s the only part that scares me.”
Swarts said that before the interviews are held, they offer an orientation to pose questions to the Office of Residential Life staff members.
“It can be nerve-racking, and we try to make each student as ready as possible,” said Swarts. At the orientation the applicants are given information on how to dress, what the interviewers will be looking for, and are even given the chance to observe a mock interview.
The first part of the interview is a group activity, where the applicants are divided into groups of seven or eight and given a task to accomplish.
“They’re doing an activity, whatever that may be, and there’s a group of people observing how well they work with other people,” Swarts said.
Cori Tucker, a resident assistant in Hitch Suites, said she was very nervous on her own interview day.
“I really wanted to become an RA and I knew that hundreds of other students wanted to do that as well,” she said. “When I entered the room on the first day I was nervous, but also excited and confident.”
Swarts said they look for “a good team player” that doesn’t dominate the group but is still able to contribute to the team.
After the group exercise, each candidate interviews with two staff members in a large room where several other interviews are taking place. The interview environment can sometimes raise issues of concentration and focus, Swarts said.
Once the interview day is over, the applicants wait until the last day of February to find out if they are accepted.
Tucker believes that the quality that made her stand out among the others was her genuine interest in creating a inclusive community here at UCLA.
“You are the point person for connecting your residents to the campus. If you understand that that’s the goal of the job and really truly want to help people, I think that always comes across,” Tucker said.